Two School Records Fall at Penn Relays

PHILADELPHIA – Members of the UMBC
women's track and field team combined to break two school records,
the sprint medley relay and the 4x200 relay, while competing at the
Penn Relays at Franklin Field on the campus of the University of
Pennsylvania.

On Friday, the team of freshman Paulette Fogle (Washington, D.C./Bishop McNamara),
senior Lauren Leclerq , and sophomores Deborah Adelola (Lanham, Md./Bladensburg)
and Cody Mezebish (Westminster, Md./South
Carroll) cruised past the UMBC record in the sprint medley
relay with a time of 4:04.37, breaking the record of
4:06.36 set last season by Britney Foreman, Ashley Ajayi, Adelola and Sarah Parkinson.

Also on Friday, the combination of sophomore Ebonique Jones (New Castle, Del./William Penn),
freshman Briana Young (Bowie, Md./Elizabeth Seton),
sophomore Kirsten Jones (Brentwood, Tenn./M.L.K. Magnet) and
freshman Mercedes Jackson (Huntington, Md./Huntington)
raced into the record books with a time of 1:39.81 in the 4x200
relay prelims. The team then returned on Saturday and
bested its own time, this time finishing in 1:38.04. The
record prior to the Penn meet was 1:44.68 set back in 1997.

Senior Chrissy Robinson was also impressive in the
College Division for the Retriever in the shot put, setting a new
personal-best and taking over sole possession of fourth in the
all-time records with a toss of 13.18m (43'3"). She had
previously been tied for fourth Rachelle Wright with a
mark of 13.15m (41'1.75").

In the Eastern Division, junior Amanda Deller (Aberdeen, Md./Aberdeen) placed
fifth in the shot put with a throw of 14.38, (47'2.25").

For the men, juniors Cameron
McDearmon (Owings Mills, Md./Franklin) and Shioma
Obemeata (New Rochelle, N.Y./Iona Prep/St. Francis) each
picked up top-15 finishes for UMBC in the hammer throw and triple
jump, respectively. McDearmon's toss of 52.04m (170'8")
earned him 13th while Obemeata took 11th in the triple jump with a
leap of 14.07m (46'2").

The Retrievers now return home to prepare for next weekend's
America East Championships hosted by the University of
Maine. The meet in Orono kicks off on Sat. May 5 and
runs through Sun. May 6.